NFL dishes out heavy punishment to Saints for ‘bounty’ program

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is handing out an unprecedented punishment to the New Orleans Saints for their involvement in a “bounty” program that target opposing players.

The measures include a one-year suspension for head coach Sean Payton and the docking of two second-round picks for the Saints, one this year and one in 2013. Saints general manager Mickey Loomis has been suspended for eight games and former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams is suspended indefinitely.

Payton will be suspended without pay. Goodell will review Williams’ status after the upcoming season and consider whether he can return to the league, according to the AP. Williams was recently hired by the St. Louis Rams to coordinate their defense.

In a new statement, Williams does not argue with the terms of the suspension and says, “I accept full responsibility for my actions.”

Williams says he will cooperate with the league and its ongoing investigation, and said he’ll serve as an advocate for player safety and sportsmanship. Williams added that he’ll do anything he can to earn back the respect he has lost. He also says he wants to return to coaching.

Saints assistant Joe Vitt has to sit out the first six games.

In addition, the Saints are being fined $500,000.

The NFL said on March 2 that about two dozen Saints players, led by Williams, paid each other as much as $1,500 for injuring opponents. It said the bounty plan targeted players including Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner from 2009 through 2011.

“A combination of elements made this matter particularly unusual and egregious,” Goodell said in a statement. “When there is targeting of players for injury and cash rewards over a three-year period, the involvement of the coaching staff, and three years of denials and willful disrespect of the rules, a strong and lasting message must be sent that such conduct is totally unacceptable and has no place in the game.”

Goodell has ordered the owners of all 32 NFL teams to make sure their clubs are not offering bounties like the Saints did from 2009-11. His memo instructs each team’s principal owner and head coach to certify in writing by March 30 that no pay-for-performance system exists.

On Wednesday, the commissioner said that bounty programs “are incompatible with our efforts to promote sportsmanship, fair play, and player safety.”

No players were immediately punished by the league but the matter is still under review.

“While I will not address player conduct at this time, I am profoundly troubled by the fact that players – including leaders among the defensive players – embraced this program so enthusiastically and participated with what appears to have been a deliberate lack of concern for the well-being of their fellow players,” Goodell said. “While all club personnel are expected to play to win, they must not let the quest for victory so cloud their judgment that they willingly and willfully target their opponents and engage in unsafe and prohibited conduct intended to injure players.”

Loomis, Payton and Williams all apologized for their roles in the program in statements after the league announced the results of its investigation. Williams occasionally contributed to the funds himself, the NFL said.